Johnny be Good
Summary
Peggy Lynch has too many children and too much to do. Unlike the pampered wives in her affluent Long Island suburb, Peggy’s not married to a doctor or a lawyer. She’s married to an uneducated Irish immigrant twelve years her junior. so she has to work two jobs,while doing the carpools, the laundry, the food shopping. Peggy’s the one that has to make sure her youngest son Johnny takes his ADHD medicine and doesn’t completely flunk out of high school. She’s the one that has to make sure the children study, get into college and make something of their lives. So Peggy’s busy and stressed and, unlike her useless husband, doesn’t have time to coddle their youngest daughter Veronica and her silly dreams of becoming a world champion Irish dancer. Maybe if her lazy husband would get off his ass and help around the house once in a while, she’d have time to connect with Veronica and be the kind of mother the young girl clearly longs for. But Peggy doesn’t have that luxury because if it wasn’t for Peggy and her nagging and cajoling, the whole family would fall apart.
Years have passed since her mother ruled the house and Veronica was the obedient little girl. Now, Veronica is moving into her childhood home with her handsome policeman husband and infant twins. She’s starting a new life. Veronica should finally be happy.
While cleaning out her old bedroom, Veronica finds a letter from her now dead mother. If Veronica were smart, she’d burn that letter. Leave the family secrets buried with the dead. But as her mother so often said, Veronica’s never been that smart.
Veronica rips open the envelope and proves her mother right.